Participants consumed 13.2 mmol.kg−1 of βHB (6.6 mmol.kg−1 or 1,161 mg/kg of KE) over 9 h, either as 3 drinks of 4.4 mmol.kg−1 of βHB at 3 h intervals (n = 12), or as an initial bolus of 4.4 mmol.kg−1 of βHB given through a nasogastric tube, followed by an infusion of 1.1 mmol.kg.h−1, beginning 60 min after the initial bolus, for 8 h (n = 4). Two participants completed both conditions (total n = 14). In both conditions, the KE was diluted to 1.5 L using the same citrus water as used in Study 2.
Ketones are an alternate energy or fuel source for brain and body that our bodies have naturally produced and used for millennia. Ketones have recently leapt to the forefront of health and wellness conversations worldwide as the scientific body of research that seeks to understand their numerous unique properties and profound systemic effects has begun to grow (see below).
There is also evidence that individuals who adhere to a low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diet may require higher sodium intakes. Due to their low carbohydrate contents, these diets reduce insulin levels. Since one of insulin’s roles is to decrease the excretion of sodium in the urine[7], low-carbohydrate and ketogenic dieters excrete more sodium than normal, and are encouraged to salt their meals to increase their sodium intake.
Those of you who have tried this form of weight loss before are probably more than aware of how hard it can be to first get your body to adapt to such a dramatic change in your daily intake of food, let alone without the help of a single exogenous ketone supplement. And the situation isn’t made any easier if you use a poor quality ketosis supplement because the wrong ketone product may actually do you more harm than good.
If you have been reading the science behind the ketogenic diet, you know there can be a lot of benefits associated with choosing this way of eating. There is usually a transition period from when someone chooses to go on a ketogenic diet and implements the changes to their menu to when they actually get into ketosis and are able to produce and burn ketones for fuel.
I had heard horror stories about how bad ketone esters tasted (like “rocket fuel”!) so was prepared for the worst. I followed their instructions and drank the contents of the bottle in one gulp, then chased it with a sip of sparkling mineral water. While not the most pleasant aftertaste, the flavor wasn’t any worse than after a shot of well tequila. Within 15 minutes I was already well into therapeutic ketosis, and after 30 minutes my ketone meter displayed a “HI” error message (meaning my level was greater than 8.0 mmol/L)!
The other potentially important distinction between nutritional ketosis and chemically-induced ketosis is the potential metabolic role played by liver AcAc production and redox status. Although the ratio of BOHB to AcAc in venous blood is typically 80% to 20%, classic studies by Cahill (1975) have observed important hepatic vein and peripheral arterio-venous gradients for this ratio in keto-adapted patients. What these observations imply is that the liver produces a higher proportion of AcAc than is found in the peripheral blood, and that this is due to uptake of AcAc in peripheral cells (principally muscle) with re-release as BOHB. In the process, the reduction of AcAc to BOHB produces NAD+, which is beneficial to mitochondrial redox state and mitochondrial function (Verdin 2015, Newman 2017).
We carried out the testing across five different days, leaving at least two days between the different testing days so that my teammates had time to recover from the physical performance test each time. The reason we needed five days was that we included a placebo (an artificially flavored drink with no caffeine content) alongside the four brands we tested. Our teammates didn’t know that one of the supplements was a placebo. We also gave everyone a different supplement each time, to rule out any improvement in the tests being a result of people simply getting better at those tests over time.
Many of us have heard the saying, “Don’t blame the butter for what the bread did.” Similarly, don’t blame the sodium for what the fries did. Sodium has been shown to help maintain fluid balance, normal muscle and nerve function, and blood pressure and volume[1]. The movement of sodium ions and other electrolytes across cell membranes helps to facilitate muscle contraction and nerve impulses. Electrolytes also help to maintain fluid balance across intracellular and extracellular spaces and blood volume.
You see, when someone says ketosis is a natural state, they mean that ketosis is the body’s backup plan for those times when there isn’t any food to eat. It’s an evolutionary adaptation that developed over hundreds of thousands of years and springs from a time when our distant ancestors often had to go many days between decent meals. Fortunately, these days actual starvation is pretty rare so most people will never be in ketosis. But the physiological mechanism is still there, lurking in the background, readily accessible to anyone who is willing to trick their body into thinking it’s starving.
Selective attention involves focusing only on relevant information while suppressing the impulse to pay attention to irrelevant distractions. A v-shaped flock of birds are displayed. The center (target) bird points in one direction and is surrounded by birds that either match the target’s direction or do not. The task is to rapidly identify which direction the target bird is pointing.
I noticed for myself that it helps if I add some highly nutritional foods to my diet before I go into ketogenic diet. Adding minerals and vitamins will aid your body in this difficult process and on top of that if you have a deficiency of some sort you will be even more hungry and it will make your transition more difficult, so why make it harder on your self if you can just add some leafy greens to your diet.
In addition, the body regulates ketone production via ketonuria (peeing out excess ketones) and ketone-induced insulin release, which shuts off hepatic ketogenesis (the liver making more ketones when you have enough). The insulin from this process could be increasing glucose disposal which, when coupled with PDH activation, could drive glucose levels quite low.
Also, it’s important to remember that just because something may be SAFE (and to reiterate, I’m not saying a long term ketogenic diet is safe), it doesn’t mean it’s good for you or beneficial. Running Marathons could be considered safe (especially if it’s on a closed race circuit), but does this mean it’s good for you? Or should you be out running marathons every day?
Sometimes waiting for your body to make the switch from carbohydrate metabolism to beta hydroxybutyrate metabolism (aka ketosis) can be an uncomfortable and lengthy process. Another way to get beta hydroxybutyrate into your system so your body is using “clean” energy is by taking it supplementally or through nutrition. A betahydroxybutyrate supplement is what can be used in this scenario. This is an exogenous ketone. Exogenous means you get it from outside of your body. Think EX = exit = outside.
The Zenwise Keto Life BHB Salt uses a custom calcium, magnesium and sodium ketone complex to help access ketones for fuel without the low carb diet or fasting. This product is another all-natural option that goes as far as using turmeric for its added coloring. It is a proven product with hundreds of happy customers. They seem to have a strong grasp on the lemonade side of the exogenous market with their Raspberry Lemonade and Wild Limeade flavor choices.
The blood levels of BOHB that can be achieved with the salts or ester formulations are in the 1-3 mM range, similar to what can be achieved with a well-formulated ketogenic diet in insulin sensitive humans, but well below levels achieved after a 4-7 days of total fasting (Owen 1969). In more insulin resistant humans, the ester formulation may deliver higher blood levels than a sustainable diet (as opposed to short term fasting). For example, in the Virta IUH Study of over 200 patients with type 2 diabetes, blood ketone mean levels were 0.6 mM at 10 weeks and 0.4 mM after 1 year.
This was a big surprise. We were at the very least expecting that drinking a ketone supplement would cause blood ketones to rise, but an average increase of 0.33 mmol/L is very small. The supplement associated with the highest average increase in blood ketones was Prüvit’s Keto-OS Max, but it was only an increase of 0.6 mmol/L. Brianna Stubbs, the ketone researcher I consulted with, agrees that an increase of below 2.0-3.0 mmol/L is unlikely to be of much use.

I (Kim) researched the topic and planned and ran the experiment under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, who touched base with me every step of the way to check the experiment design and execution for scientific rigor (to the greatest degree possible) and who has edited this writeup for quality and trustworthiness reasons. I also consulted with other keto experts and researchers to gather feedback both on the experiment design and the results data. They are referenced in the text when this was the case.

If you’re somebody who isn’t already a keto-goer, then you might be wondering why? Why do I need to limit my carbohydrate intake to get my body into a state of ketosis? Simply put, and without getting to technical; you want your body to be in a constant state where fat is the is the primary source of fuel for the body rather than glucose. You see, once you eat carbs, the body will break this down into glucose which it will then use for fuel before tapping into your fat reserves for energy. If you limit the amount of glucose that is in your system by restricting your carbohydrate intake, the body has no choice but to tap into your fat stores for energy. Fats are metabolised in the liver where ketones are then produced for your physical and cognitive needs.
A lot of people who use ketogenic diets will include a regular (i.e. weekly) carb refeed meal. There are various reasons behind doing this. If you are doing a lot of glycolic based training, then the carb refeed can help bump up muscle glycogen levels and in turn boost performance. Others use these refeeds as a way to keep their thyroid health in check, and finally some people use these refeeds as a ‘cheat day’ – so that they can still enjoy the pleasures from carbohydrates!
Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) is a ketone body produced in the liver naturally under conditions when glucose isn’t very available. Other types of ketones produced via the restriction of dietary carbohydrates are acetoacetate and acetone. A VLCHF or ketogenic diet provides the optimal conditions for this process. Fasting, exercise and/or basic caloric restriction are all also methods for promoting ketogenesis (literally, the making of ketones).

No this is wrong. Your body will use your own fat and any fat you eat as fuel. This counts as exogenous ketones. It won’t stop burning your fat. The same logic would say that if eating any fat your fat loss would stall and that is not true. It can help get you back into ketosis because you have certain monocarboxylic acid transporters that are upregulated when ketones are present. The evidence is physiology.

While exogenous ketones (EK) are a newer supplement, having entered the market for consumers in just the past few years, scientists have been synthesizing ketone bodies in a lab since the 1960’s. They were useful for scientists studying their use for specific disease conditions, most notably childhood seizure disorders, though they were prohibitively expensive for consumers (1, 2).
I stumbled onto this trend before it even blew up, I have read just about every peer-review journal of the topic, I have trialed as well as tested different methods and keto products (exogenous ketones, MCT oils, pills, etc), and lastly, I have reported and analyzed my performance to share with you all. It hasn't been an easy task, but I have also seen the fruits of the labor, and the fruit is sweet.
Ketones may be a better source of fuel than glucose, and a far better beverage than Fruitopia, but it's a question of whether or not you can spare the extra fuel. Because just like adding sugar to a diet, it's like pressing pause on the fat burning process since the body preferentially burns it for fuel. Adding ketones to the diet does the same thing.
The year before last I somehow full on Rocked at the keto diet lost 100lb, and was taking adderall. I am transitioning back into it again also back on the adderall, but i seem to have no energy and last time my doc did my blood work i was only 16% hydrated. Obviously it’s a huge problem for me, staying hydrated and trying to lift the fogginess. I am type 2 diabetic and my doctor is on board with me trying all to keep my sugars down YEAH!!! I have never tried any exogenous product. My body seems to not absorb much vitamins. Can anyone make a or any suggestion to me as to how to get this under control?

So if your high-fat diet includes a high amount of roasted seeds or roasted nuts, nut butters, heated oils such as heated coconut oil or heated extra virgin olive oil, barbecued meats or meats cooked at very high temperatures, then your triglyceride count is going to go up. You should have triglycerides that are less than 150mg/dL, and a triglyceride to HDL ratio that is no more than 4:1, and in most of the healthiest people I’ve worked with, triglycerides are under 100 and the triglyceride to HDL ratio is less than 2:1. If your ratio is whacked, your ketogenic diet isn’t doing you any favors.’

As KE drinks achieved a significantly higher d-βHB concentrations than KS, we investigated factors that may be important in the use of ketone drinks to achieve nutritional ketosis. Initially we determined the repeatability of blood ketosis following KE drinks and found little variation in kinetic parameters between individuals. Variability between participants was less than within the population, and accurate individual prediction of the d-βHB Cmax following a body-weight adjusted KE drink was achieved. Variability within individuals was likely due to normal daily changes in GI function, including gastric emptying, portal blood flow or intestinal transit time, which may alter KE hydrolysis and absorption.

Those new to keto should be testing to see if their bodies are in ketosis, regardless of method. Testing, in general, is the most objective way to know if you’re in ketosis. There can be some subjective benefits of ketosis: appetite suppression, fat loss, low blood sugar, improvement in mental cognition and focus. But before recognizing these subjective benefits, it’s important to track and measure the level of ketones in the blood to ensure ketosis on a physical level.

Obviously, cutting carbs is much easier than not eating anything at all for days on end. It's also safer for people with diabetes as it leads to a gradual decline in blood glucose [2]. The carbs you have to reduce are known as net carbs. Those are the carbs that your body uses to make glucose. You calculate them by subtracting the grams of fiber from total carbs in a food item.

The product does not work. I have taken one scoop daily and for last two days two scoops (once in the morning and once in the night). I also do intermittent fast i.e. no food from 8 pm - next day 2 pm other than this powder in the morning. My food is 1500 calories with 60% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs. I used to achieve ketosis naturally prior to using the powder. But now, there is no ketosis. This product does not work. I am wondering how on earth did they pick up so many reviews, unless it is faked marketing.

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